Cephissus

by Liz Gunner, Clarksville Middle School

One meaning of the name Cephissus is a Greek river god, the father of Narcissus. Another meaning of the name Cephissus is a man who was changed into a sea monster by Apollo. A third meaning for the name Cephissus is three famous rivers in Greece: in Attica near Eleusis; in Attica near Athens; in Boeotia and in Phocis near the sacred shrine of Delphi and Mount Parnassus. The three graces were particularly fond of the river near the sacred shrine. The final and fourth meaning of the name Cephissus is a Boeotian river god. He was the son of Oceanus and Tethys, brother of the other river gods, and father of Narcissus by the nymph, Liriope. Other children are ascribed to him, but in those cases parentage is disputed.